Police: Shooting may be murder-suicide

MANTECA - A man and a woman were found shot to death in a suburban Manteca home Monday in what police believe was a murder-suicide.

Daniel Thigpen

MANTECA - A man and a woman were found shot to death in a suburban Manteca home Monday in what police believe was a murder-suicide.

Just days before the new year, it was the south San Joaquin County town's first homicide of 2008.

Police shared few details as investigators pieced together the violence. The pair, whose identities were not released late Monday, were in their mid-40s and might have been married, Manteca police said.

Police would not say if those found fatally shot in the beige, single-story house also were its occupants or owners.

The home, in the 1000 block of Gladiola Place, was for sale, and its previous owner apparently had struggled with payments, according to public records.

The violence rattled neighbors of the quiet cul-de-sac on Manteca's eastern edge.

"It's just a real tragedy for the (victims), first off, and for the neighborhood," said Gene Seus, a neighbor who said he and his son were friendly with the home's owner.

A relative who was checking on the pair called police just before 10 a.m. Monday to report she had found a woman dead inside the house, said police Officer Rex Osborn, a department spokesman. Family members had not heard from the two since Saturday, Osborn said.

When officers arrived, they found the man and woman lying in a front room, dead from gunshot wounds. Investigators believe the man fatally shot the woman before turning the gun on himself.

Detectives re-entered the mostly empty home about 1 p.m. after receiving a search warrant and stayed at the scene as the sun set. They found a handgun inside, Osborn said, and authorities were waiting to confirm whether it was the weapon used in the deaths.

According to property records, the home's owner purchased the three-bedroom, 2,647-square-foot home new in 2004 for $440,000.

But as early as three months ago, the house was listed for $305,000 as a short sale. That typically means a lender has allowed a homeowner who is struggling financially to sell his house for less than he owes on his mortgage.

Neighbors said they did not notice any commotion or unusual activity at the home in recent days.

Record staff writer Reed Fujii and Record librarian Delailah Little contributed to this report.